The water
Bottled water in Amman, Petra and the Dead Sea; the desert dehydrates fast. Tap water: Not drinkable.
Jordan
The Dana Biosphere Reserve, spanning four bio-geographic zones from Mediterranean highland to Rift Valley desert
RegionAsiaCurrencyJODPowerType A/B/C, 220V (varies)Tap waterNot drinkable
Mixed
Eco Index
What to expect on the ground
At a glance
Food & farming
With little arable land, an arid climate and severe water limits, Jordan imports the large majority of its food, including most of its grain. Domestic production is small and tightly constrained by water availability.
Local staples
Flatbread, lentils, chickpeas, olive oil, rice, yoghurt
Markets
Daily souks; weekly produce markets in towns
In season
Olive harvest October to November
Wildlife
Jordan sits on a major bird migration flyway and has reintroduced the Arabian oryx at Shaumari, alongside Nubian ibex, caracal and desert species. Wildlife is modest in diversity but includes a genuine rewilding success.
Found nowhere else
Reintroduced Arabian oryx; Nubian ibex; Tristram's starling
Natural phenomena
Hot desert summers, mild winters; the Dead Sea is the lowest, hottest place on Earth.
When to go
Spring and autumn
Getting around
Rental car or private driver; JETT buses between main cities; limited rural transport
Good to know
Cards in Amman, cash elsewhere; JOD. Dress modestly; Jordanians are famously hospitable.
Safety
Solo female travel: Take care. LGBTQ+: Low.
Only hereThe Dana Biosphere Reserve, spanning four bio-geographic zones from Mediterranean highland to Rift Valley desert
Assessed across 10 equally-weighted pillars
The Eco Index, pillar by pillar
50/100
Mixed
The Eco Index: Jordan
12 pillars, equally weighted, from published sources. All 12 assessed. Blanks mean unverified, never estimated.
Only here The Dana Biosphere Reserve, spanning four bio-geographic zones from Mediterranean highland to Rift Valley desert
- Forest cover
- 1.1%%
- Land protected
- 5.4%%
- Sea protected
- 2.8%%
- Organic farmland
- 0.1%%
- Threatened species
- 65 (mammals, birds, fish & plants)
- Found nowhere else
- Reintroduced Arabian oryx; Nubian ibex; Tristram's starling
- Renewable power
- 24.9%%
- CO2 per person
- 2.1 t (2023) t
- Air quality (AQI)
- 32.6 µg/m³ (PM2.5)
- Cleanest air
- Highland reserves such as Dana and Ajloun
- Water from
- Bottled water in Amman, Petra and the Dead Sea; the desert dehydrates fast.
- Tap water
- Not drinkable
- Safe drinking water
- 89.0%%
- Cleanest water
- Mujib and Dana spring-fed wadis
- Springs
- Ma'in and Zarqa Ma'in hot springs; Dead Sea mineral springs
- In season
- Olive harvest October to November
- Plastic ban
- Ban on thin single-use plastic bags
- Watch out for
- Phosphate and potash mining and Dead Sea mineral extraction
- Solo female travel
- Take care
- LGBTQ+ acceptance
- Low
- Best months
- March to May and September to November
- Getting around
- Rental car or private driver; JETT buses between main cities; limited rural transport
- Power
- Type A/B/C, 220V (varies)
- Currency
- JOD
| Pillar | Score | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| WaterWhere the water comes from, and whether there is enough of it | 1/5 | Jordan is among the two or three most water-scarce countries on Earth, with per-capita renewable water far below the absolute-scarcity line. Full assessmentIt leans on the dwindling Jordan and Yarmouk rivers and the non-renewable Disi fossil aquifer, and households in Amman often receive piped water only once a week. About 89% have safely managed drinking water (JMP, 2024), but supply security is the acute problem. |
| Food and farmingWhat the island actually grows, and what arrives by boat | 1/5 | With little arable land, an arid climate and severe water limits, Jordan imports the large majority of its food, including most of its grain. Full assessmentDomestic production is small and tightly constrained by water availability. |
| Plant based and real foodWhether you can eat unprocessed from local supply | 5/5 | Levantine cuisine is exceptionally plant-friendly: hummus, falafel, foul, tabbouleh, mutabbal, freekeh and abundant vegetable mezze make unprocessed plant eating the everyday norm. Full assessmentMeat dishes such as mansaf exist, but daily food is largely plant-based. |
| OrganicCertified and chemical free growing, which is not the same thing as plant based | 2/5 | Certified organic farmland is about 0.1% of agricultural area (FiBL, 2020 data), reflecting the country's tiny, water-limited farming base. |
| ConservationWhat is protected, and whether protection is enforced | 2/5 | Protected areas cover about 5% of land and under 3% of the sea (World Bank, 2025), a modest footprint, but the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature runs its reserves at Dana, Mujib,… Full assessmentAjloun and Azraq to a high standard with real ecotourism income. |
| Wildlife and endemicsWhat lives here and nowhere else on earth | 2/5 | Jordan sits on a major bird migration flyway and has reintroduced the Arabian oryx at Shaumari, alongside Nubian ibex, caracal and desert species. Full assessmentWildlife is modest in diversity but includes a genuine rewilding success. |
| Natural materialsWhat you can eat from and carry here instead of plastic, and who still makes it | 3/5 | Bedouin weaving survives, using sheep wool and goat hair for rugs and tents, alongside embroidery and craft cooperatives, several linked to the nature reserves. |
| Pollution and plasticPlastic law and contamination | 2/5 | Ambient PM2.5 averages about 33 µg/m³ (World Bank, 2023), lifted by desert dust as well as traffic. Full assessmentJordan has banned thin single-use plastic bags, but litter and limited waste systems remain visible outside the main cities. |
| Recycling and wasteWhat actually happens to the rubbish once you have thrown it away | 1/5 | Formal municipal recycling is very limited, with most waste landfilled and only informal recovery of high-value materials. |
| Energy and climateClean power, carbon emissions per person and the pace of decarbonisation | 3/5 | Jordan imports almost all its fossil energy and its power grid still runs mainly on natural gas, but it has become a regional renewables leader, lifting the renewable share of electricity f… Full assessmentom under 1 per cent in 2014 to around 27 per cent by 2023 through large solar and wind projects. Emissions are low at roughly 2.1 tonnes of CO2 per person. Its climate pledge targets a 31 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, backed by a national energy strategy. The mix of low emissions and a genuine, fast growing solar and wind programme is offset by continued dependence on imported gas. |
| Culture and peopleIndigenous and living communities, and who the money reaches | 4/5 | Living Bedouin communities remain central, and Jordan has built strong community-based tourism, from Wadi Rum camps to the RSCN's Feynan Ecolodge and Dana guesthouses, so tourism income rea… Full assessmenthes local families. |
| Living heritage and ancestral traditionsNational dance and music, and the ancestral and spiritual traditions still practised | 4/5 | Jordan's living heritage is anchored in Bedouin culture and the wider Levantine tradition. Full assessmentDabke line dancing is performed at almost every celebration, and Bedouin poetry, music and the As-Samer wedding tradition remain alive, both recognised by UNESCO. The cultural space of the Bedu in Petra and Wadi Rum sustains pastoral knowledge, storytelling and the Arabic coffee and majlis customs. Circassian and Chechen minorities add their own living music and dance. |
Before you go
Cards in Amman, cash elsewhere; JOD. Dress modestly; Jordanians are famously hospitable.
Where these figures come from
- World Bank, Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 — source
- World Bank, Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 — source
- World Bank, Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS, 2025 — source
- World Bank, Renewable electricity output (% of total electricity output) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 — source
- WHO/UNICEF JMP via World Bank, People using safely managed drinking water services (% of population) SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS, 2024 — source
- World Bank, PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (µg/m³) EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, 2023 — source
- FiBL & IFOAM, The World of Organic Agriculture 2022 (2020 data), organic share of agricultural land — source
- IUCN Red List via World Bank, threatened mammals, birds, fish and higher plants (summed), 2022 — source
- Food import share left blank: no single verified import-dependency percentage, though Jordan is documented as importing the majority of its food.
- Our World in Data, CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions profile: Jordan source
- IEA, Jordan country profile source
- IFC, Powering up Jordan's renewable energy market (2023) source
- UNESCO, Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity source
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Jordan source
Living heritage and ancestral traditions
The culture still danced, played and believed
Jordan's living heritage is anchored in Bedouin culture and the wider Levantine tradition. Dabke line dancing is performed at almost every celebration, and Bedouin poetry, music and the As-Samer wedding tradition remain alive, both recognised by UNESCO. The cultural space of the Bedu in Petra and Wadi Rum sustains pastoral knowledge, storytelling and the Arabic coffee and majlis customs. Circassian and Chechen minorities add their own living music and dance.
- Dabke line dance
- Bedouin poetry and sahja
- the As-Samer wedding tradition
- the Bedu cultural space of Petra and Wadi Rum
- Arabic coffee and majlis customs
- Circassian and Chechen minority dance and music.
Sleep well, tread lightly
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